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Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Quiz: Test your summer safety IQ

It’s officially summertime and the outdoors is calling. Get the most out of our city’s fantastic offerings by taking a few minutes to check your summer safety IQ.

On the water
You’re packing for a day of rafting on the Bow River. You’ve got snacks, lots of bottled water to keep hydrated and plenty of sunscreen. What else do you need?

Weather forecast.

A hat.

Cell phone to call for help if needed.

A life jacket.

All of the above.

Carol Henke, Public Information Officer
for Calgary Fire hams it up.

While items one through three are all really good ideas, hands down, the most important thing to bring is a life jacket. Wearing a life jacket while boating, rafting or using any other kind of watercraft on waterways within city limits is required by law. Plus, it’ll save your life if you get into trouble.

Missing from this list is alcohol. It’s illegal to have alcohol on any watercraft and it will impair your ability to react if something unexpected happens. For more tips on enjoying the water safely and responsibly, check out calgary.ca/watersafety.

Into the fire

A friend is bringing over a guitar and you’ve got all the fixings to make s’mores over a fire in the backyard pit. You’ve checked calgary.ca/firepits to make sure no fire bans are in effect for Calgary. Your next concerns are your neighbours and staying safe. What can you do to stay on your neighbour’s good side and have a safe, fun time?

Only burn clean, dry wood to keep the smoke down and mitigate any environmental issues.

Stay with the fire at all times.

Request a playlist from your neighbour so your guitar friend only plays songs they like.

Keep the noise down after 10 p.m. and make sure your fire’s out by 1 a.m.

You’re super thoughtful if you chose number three, but appealing to your neighbour's musical tastes isn’t necessary. You do, however, want to make sure you’re complying with numbers 1, 2 and 4 which reflect Calgary’s fire pit and noise bylaws. There are a couple other requirements you’ll want to be aware of. Please check them out at calgary.ca/firepits before you strike that match.

In the air

You’re enjoying the view from your friend’s condo balcony on the 6th floor. You’re a smoker but your friend’s not so she doesn’t have an ashtray for you. When it’s time to butt out, you:

Put your cigarette out in the closest flower pot

Toss it off the balcony

Ask for a bit of water to douse your butt before putting it in the garbage

The two definite no-no’s here are the first and the second choices. Flower pots contain flammable material that has caused more than one devastating fire in Calgary. It’s also incredibly dangerous to toss your cigarette butts over the balcony. You can’t control where they land or who they may land on.